I thought it would be fun to turn this little briefcase into a watercolor palette for this small mixing set of Daniel Smith watercolors. Since they provided a photo of the colors mixed into swatches, I thought I’d mix mine to see if I could come up with the same colors as they did.

Briefcase business card holder: https://tinyurl.com/yckswk3z or https://tinyurl.com/mr2fnfns

10 Full pan watercolors: https://tinyurl.com/bvwdu95e

Daniel Smith Mixing Watercolors: https://tinyurl.com/487ph2xn or https://tinyurl.com/rnjahpmn

Watercolor tube wringer: https://www.dickblick.com/categories/painting/tools/tube-wringers/

Arteza watercolor paper: https://tinyurl.com/5rmekf83

UHU Glue : https://tinyurl.com/2p94ambn

To make the briefcase palette, I tore the lining out and only left the small strip of black “velvet” in the center to make sure the palette wouldn’t fall apart. I removed as much of the glue and residue left inside the briefcase as I could. I took the plastic empty full pans and laid them in plastic packaging so if I made a mess, it would be easy to clean. I opened one tube of paint at a time and used the watercolor wringer to get all of the paint out, and into the pan. I had to use Rich for this, as getting the paint out from the top of the tube, wasn’t a simple task. Once all of the paint was in the pan, I would gently tap it down so the paint settled in the pan.

I wanted to put the pans into the briefcase with magnets, but the briefcase (that appeared to be metal) did not attach to magnets, so I had to use glue instead. I used UHU glue I had on hand, but you can use hot glue or Beacon 3 in 1 to adhere the pans to the briefcase. I accidentally deleted the video where I showed how to glue the pans into the briefcase…you just need to make sure that you leave enough room on the ends where there is a hinge inside the case, so when you close the case, the hinges don’t run into the plastic pans. I was able to glue five full pans across the front and four on the back row, even though I didn’t have paint for more than six pans.

I took the plastic packaging of the Daniel Smith paints and the “velvet” from the top section of the briefcase that I had removed, and laid the velvet on the clear part of the packaging and traced it with a black Sharpie. I cut out the plastic, then added tear tape to the back of white cardstock and attached the cardstock to the plastic making sure to cut the paper so it would fit inside the briefcase attached to the plastic packaging to make a mixing palette.

I let the paint sit open in the briefcase until the paint had dried. Then to mix the paints, I got my chicken (used for deviled eggs, but works great for mixing paints) and put some of each of the six colors into separate wells. I started with the Hansa Yellow Light (my first category on the top and on the left side)…I mixed it with the Gamboge with using more of the Hansa then put this mix into the second box from the top (in the first row at the top) and then added more of the New Gamboge to make the mix that goes in the second row on the top the first box down. If you use the names of the paints that go across the top of the page and use those as the primary color in the row beneath the name, and the colors that run down the left side of the page are the secondary colors in the mix.

I saw this box and thought it would be great to hold jewelry.

Sam Calcott made a similar box, here’s her version. https://tinyurl.com/2s4zthrk

Products used:

Paper Boutique Bumblebee Dance-no longer sold, but Amazon has a lot of Paper Boutique kits as does Scrapbook.com

Beacon 3 in 1 glue

American Crafts 12 x 12″ paper: https://tinyurl.com/ypazx39f

Black Paper: Michaels Recollections Heavyweight Cardstock

Feet: https://tinyurl.com/kuu6a5w3

If you don’t want to buy feet, use the scraps left from cutting the corners out of the gold paper that will be 2″ long and you’ll need two of these. 2″ x 1 1/2″ then score them on the 2″ length at 1/2, 1″ and 1 1/2″ then put in your trimmer and cut in half on 1 1/2″ length to make them 3/4″ wide, then fold the scores and put glue under the last score to make a triangle shape. You’ll glue the flat piece with the glued seam to the bottom of your box to make feet on your box…you’ll glue four of them on the four corners of the box about 1″ from the edges.

Corner Covers: https://tinyurl.com/uc5yjv3d If you don’t want to buy corner covers, I recommend rounding the corners so they don’t break down over time, and you’ll also want to round the front two corners of your designer papers that go on top and bottom of top of box.

Ribbon: 2 pieces of 12″ ribbon. grosgrain 1/2″ wide white ribbon

Fray Check: https://tinyurl.com/5b32vb6c

Box:

Use 12 x 12 gold paper, score at 1 1/2 and 3″ on all four sides, then on bottom, cut first set of score line at 1 1/2″ up to 2nd score and cut away that score line including the score, so nothing’s left. Then cut the next score line (at 3″) up to the 2nd score and carefully cut across at the first score to get rid of the bottom box, including the score line, then cut small angles on box that’s left behind. Do this to other end of bottom of paper, then turn paper around and do the same to what was the top and is now the bottom. You’ll want to cut small angle cuts off of the long rectangle pieces up to the first score line as well. Fold and burnish all scores. Then put glue on the outside of the small tabs left from cutting, and fold the tab in so you have a corner that is 90°. Do the same to all four tabs and then rub inside with bone folder to ensure they’re well adhered. Then add glue to the inside of the long rectangular pieces and fold them into the box and rub with bone folder so they’re flat and well adhered.

Black Paper: two pieces that are 6 1/2 x 7 3/4″ and score on the 7 3/4″ length at 6 1/4″ on both.

Two pieces of designer paper for top of box 5 3/4″ x 6″ to line the lid.

One piece of designer paper for inside the box 5 3/4″ x 5 3/4″

Designer paper for around outside of box 1 1/4 tall by 5 3/4″ long, three pieces

Black paper, fold the score, then glue the designed paper to the top and bottom centered on the black paper to the score line but not past it. The 5 3/4″ length goes across the front and the 6″ length goes front to back. Put one piece on top of the black piece and put the other underneath the black piece after you’ll adhered your ribbon to the center of the underside of the black paper, then attach the two corner covers.

The second black paper will be glued under your box… first glue the ribbon to the center underneath the box so you don’t forget. I also poked holes in the bottom of the box for the feet brads, so I could easily poke through the gold paper. I poked them 1″ from the ends and 3/8″ from the sides of the box. Then glue the scored end of the black paper to the back of the box, putting the glue on the back of the box and underside of the box and adhere the black paper to the underside of the box making sure the back is flush with the black paper.. Once the glue is dry, poke the brad holes through the black paper and push the brads through so the two brad feet are inside the box. Make sure the feet of the brads are completely flat, then attach the designer paper over it that is 5 3/4 x 5 3/4″.

Add embellishments to top of box lid. I used a black stitched circle 4 1/2″ across and a white stitched circle that was 4″ across and put the bee on foam squares then glued the white and black pieces together and glued them all to the top center of the lid, then glued from the score line of the black paper to the back of the box. I cut three strips of different designed paper to the sides of the box that are 1 1/4″ wide by 5 3/4″ long.

Thanks to everyone who sent me cards..I really loved them.

Just a reminder, I’m not affiliated with any company and only provide links so you can find the same product I’ve purchased, if you’re so inclined.

Round trivets from Dollar Tree: https://tinyurl.com/363tz32z

Fish material from Joanns: https://tinyurl.com/a8yutjf6

Craftstash.us (for USA purchases) or Craftstash.uk

Die Cutting Essentials Issue #90 with hello die: https://tinyurl.com/yhebdfpu

Die Cutting Essentials Issue #92 with triangle layer dies https://tinyurl.com/2wumpks3

Simply Cards & Papercrafts Issue #226 https://tinyurl.com/mrwtu997

Joanns:

Hero Arts Thinking of You: https://tinyurl.com/3rphtpad

Park Lane Floral Spice 12 x 12″ pad: https://tinyurl.com/43s453c7

Tuesday Morning: EK Success Mini Score Board: I couldn’t find this product in their online store, but you can buy it on Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/2p8bc3c4

Dollar Tree:

Pencil Holder: I couldn’t find a link to these on their website, they are made by Jot

Mini Carrots: https://tinyurl.com/mtwfz488

Aliexpress:

Flower stickers: https://tinyurl.com/5fz9kntn

Leaf/fall stickers: (these are similar but not exactly the ones I bought) https://tinyurl.com/2jp7hj2s

Amazon: Lady fashion vellum stickers: https://tinyurl.com/ya2zbm56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9545ZZ4pY9Q

Of course I wanted to make my great nephew Finn a Valentine’s Day wreath and card. Luckily, the gnome I bought holds a felt envelope that is Velcro’d shut, so I could put the card in the envelope with no problem.

Tools needed:

Wreath

Foam Dollar Tree wreath: https://tinyurl.com/2p85cbpt

Gorilla Glue dual temp mini glue gun: https://tinyurl.com/38rdkbt8

Silicone craft mat from Dollar Tree–couldn’t find a link on their website

Red 7/8″ grosgrain ribbon: https://tinyurl.com/264nmu3t

Stampin’ Up Mistletoe ribbon (white grosgrain with red stitching): https://tinyurl.com/3mmavh6t

Red Glitter flatback hearts: https://tinyurl.com/4229r5d8

Plush Gnome holding envelope with heart: https://tinyurl.com/3p977jyr

Card: 4″ x 2 3/4″ red cardstock 1 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ white cardstock

Tim Holtz Funny Farm puns stamp set link: https://tinyurl.com/5893546e

SSS Love you beary much: https://tinyurl.com/3u2de6h8 (small candies and sentiments)

Gina K Black Ink

Gina K Red Ink

Prismacolor colored pencils

Glossy Accents

Take the red grosgrain ribbon and tack the end on an angle to the back of the wreath and pull tight. Keep the ribbon on the spool and wrap it around the wreath overlapping the first ribbon strip by about 1/8″ and holding it tight, put a small amount of hot glue on the back of the wreath laying the ribbon into the glue, then repeat this system until you’ve covered the entire wreath. I decided to use the Mistletoe ribbon from Stampin’ Up to add more interest to the wreath. I started on the back, and laid the ribbon edge so it lays on the red ribbon’s seam, then hot glue it in place and wrap it around so the Mistletoe ribbon has a gap where you see the red ribbon, then the next row of the Mistletoe ribbon will start on the seam of the red ribbon, glued on the back of the wreath…continue around the entire wreath.

I ran out of the Mistletoe ribbon and used regular white ribbon to finish the job. I glued the gnome on the inside bottom of the wreath, making sure there’s enough hot glue to cover his entire butt. I hot glued his hat inside the top of the wreath and bent the hat so the heart on the end of the hat could be hot glued inside the wreath as well. I added the red flatback hearts around the wreath and put one on the bottom left side of his apron. For the hanger, I used 4″ of white grosgrain ribbon, folded the ends over each other to make an “x” and then hot glued them together. I put a straight pin through the glued area and stuck it into the back of the wreath, making sure the loop didn’t show over the top of the wreath, then hot glued the above and below the pin.

For the card, I measured the opening of the felt envelope the gnome is holding and it is 2″ tall by 2 3/4″ wide, so the card is 4″ by 2 3/4 in red cardstock, scored on the 4″ at 2″. I cut two pieces of white cardstock to 1 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ for the front and inside the card. I stamped Happy Valentine’s Day inside the card with an old Stampin Up stamp and Gina K black ink. I stamped the white card front with the pig stamp from Tim Holtz set and added clear embossing powder then heat set it. I stamped the candies from SSS Love you Beary Much with Gina K red ink and the sentiments inside the candies with black ink. I colored everything with Prismacolor colored pencils in colors I noted in the video. I used an Avery glue stick to adhere the white cardstock inside the card and outside the card, then used the Made by Sandy Parker stamp on the back of the card. I was right about where I bought the stamp, but the Stampanda website has been taken down for some reason, so you can’t find the Molly square address stamp to create one for yourself, sorry.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jITWwlg0WCM

I have a lot of ribbon, a LOT, so wanted to come up with a way to use some of it and thought it would be fun to make card fronts out of ribbon. I’ve never seen anyone else do this, and thought how simple….

I bought this set of stamps and dies from Amazon and liked two of the three stamp sets, but didn’t like the one that makes tags. Link: https://tinyurl.com/2f7atcrj (I’m not affiliated with Amazon, and give you links just so you know where I bought these tools.) To use these stamps, leave them on their plastic backing, and using a glue stick (I use ones from Avery, link: https://tinyurl.com/55dbn2z7 attach the stamp sheet into your stamp positioner and stamp it three times for a good impression (at least that’s what it took for me to get a good impression.) I used clear embossing powder and heat set the images before running them through my Vagabond die cutting machine. link: https://tinyurl.com/2wehaepm

The first card I showed is using a gold mirror card front that is 4 x 5 1/4″ and I started by putting a thicker ribbon on a diagonal across the gold front. I found it was easiest to lay tear tape on the card front and then put the ribbon on top of the tear tape. I tried putting tear tape on the back of the ribbon, but that was time consuming and not as easy as it sounds. I used different thickness of ribbons and used ones that looked good with each other until the front was covered. Then took a piece of fun foam and glued it to the back of the gold mirror card front, and attached it to a 5 1/2″ wide by 8 1/2″ tall, scored at 4 1/4″ card base, to make an A2 sized card. I didn’t show this card process in its entirety because it was my practice card.

The second card I made I put thick pieces of tear tape 1/2″ wide on a card front that was 4″ x 5 1/4″ on the 5 1/4″ length on either end and put Avery glue stick on the rest of the card front. I used three different retired Stampin Up ribbons in a rusty red, a mossy green color and a dark lavender as well as seam binding in white that matches the stitching in the other ribbons. I laid the Stampin Up ribbons across the top and worked my way down the card front, with a row of seam binding, then back to the SU ribbons covering the front of the card. I used one of the sentiments I bought from Amazon on very thin foam tape link: https://tinyurl.com/5enj47y5 and laid it on the seam binding near the top of the card. I made a bow out of the lavender ribbon laying on the seam binding in my bow jig link to a variety of bow jigs https://tinyurl.com/mtajeudc I attached it to the card with Glue Dots and then put fun foam under the card front and attached it to a lavender 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ card base.

Poppy card: I started with a red card base 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ and put carpet tape link: https://tinyurl.com/yyx2w6sf to cover the entire front of the card with 1/2″ covered with two strips of 1/4″ tear tape. Started with a row of red ribbon, then black ribbon. I had pretty poppy ribbon 1 1/4″ wide (not wired edge, as wired edged ribbon is tougher to put on a card front as the wires aren’t always straight and that is obvious on cards made with only ribbon). I put a row of the poppy ribbon, then the black, then red, then black, red, and ended with black ribbon.

Green Card: Same card size, started with carpet tape covering card front then laid a horizontal row of lime green ribbon, then a row of green diamond wrap link: https://tinyurl.com/488cks8p, then a row of green glitter washi tape then repeated them to the bottom of the card. I added some green enamel dots on either side of the sentiment that I laid on the second row of lime green ribbon from the top of the card.

Blue Lace Card: Same card size covered with carpet tape, used a navy blue w/off-white ribbon, then a navy & off-white striped ribbon, then two rows of navy organza ribbon with an off-white lacy ribbon w/tear tape only on the top edge gluing it to the organza ribbon, then repeating, and the last row is a wavy navy ribbon that is thin. Sentiment is on thin foam tape on the striped ribbon.

Peacock: 5 x 7″ card base with gold glitter card stock to cover it, then glued the peacock ribbon on the 5″ length in the center of the card, and two rows of the lime green diamond wrap on either side. Added a sentiment on foam tape over the peacock feather near the center of the card.

Hope this gave you some good ideas for using up your ribbon scraps.

I wanted to cover trivets with fabric for my kitchen, so thought I’d share the process with you.

Products used:

Glass trivet from Dollar Tree (they call it a glass cutting plate) link: https://tinyurl.com/sep684vu

Black and Gold swirl fabric from Joann: (this is the closest to it I could find in their online store, sorry) link: https://tinyurl.com/utv9edvk

Dishwasher safe Mod Podge: https://tinyurl.com/2nawxrhw

Glue to reattach feet: This is the best comparable glue to what I used, link: https://tinyurl.com/2wyp4dfm

You’ll also need a strong pair of scissors to cut the fabric and a paint brush for the Mod Podge. You’ll want to have some rubbing alcohol on hand to clean the glass surface before adhering the material.

I started by removing the feet from the underside of the glass trivets with a pair of scissors or X-acto knife, by prying them off. Then took rubbing alcohol (I used 90% alcohol but the 70% version will work as well) on a cloth and cleaned the underside of the trivet, removing any residue left behind from the feet, as well as any dirt or fingerprints I left.

Then cut the material to fit the trivet and removed any hair from the material (since I have dogs and their hair ends up everywhere).. Coat the underside of the trivet with a layer of Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge, making sure to have more on the edges, as they are difficult to adhere sometimes. Your material will work best if it’s not particularly thick.

Lay the material with the face side facing the Mod Podge covered trivet and make sure it’s well adhered..Use a ruler or credit card to rub and make sure the material is well attached. Check the edges to make sure they’re adhered before setting it aside, and if it isn’t adhered, add more Mod Podge to the edge and re-adhere.

Let it dry and this can take up to 2 days, you’ll see it’s dry because you’ll no longer see the Mod Podge as it changes from milky to clear. Then add another layer of Mod Podge, brushing it over the back of the material. Let this layer dry, then trim the edges using scissors and snipping off any excess fabric. It works best if you tilt your scissors so they are leaning under the trivet, so you’ll get the fabric that’s close to the edge. If you still have fabric that’s sticking out, use a nail file or sanding block or sand paper, rubbing it along the sides.

Once you’re happy with your trivet, reattach the feet with glue that works on glass. I used UHU glue, but found a cheaper version of a glass glue at Home Depot link: https://tinyurl.com/2wyp4dfm

I did use regular Mod Podge on one of the square trivets, but it didn’t hold the edges of the fabric and I had to add another layer of Dishwasher Mod Podge to hold the fabric in place. This trivet ended up with a milky look to it in a small area…maybe it had to do with one layer of regular Mod Podge….so maybe you shouldn’t even try this with regular Mod Podge.

I don’t know why the round trivet had that weird foggy look to one side, but wish I knew. I could only guess the fabric was too thick, but if you know why it happens, please let me know.

Here’s a link to the video of me making fabric covered cookie plates if you’re interested. Same steps, different surface. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvCIweebdYg

This video has it all, diamond painting unboxing, completed diamond painting, a card made during the video with diamonds and a candy recipe..

Thanks to the kind people from Everydayedeals.com for sending me these diamond paintings.

everydayedeals.com

Hedgehog diamond painting: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diamond-painting-crystal-rhinestone-dog-322141

Giraffe diamond painting: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diamond-painting-partial-round-giraffe-284675?cfb=bdfd0ec6-3f1f-4c59-b58e-89c4f60991d8&ifb=bdfd0ec6-3f1f-4c59-b58e-89c4f60991d8&scm=search.v4&score=2953.762913&ssp=

Cat diamond painting: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diamond-painting-crystal-rhinestone-color-cat-animal-3030cm-58256402

Gnome full diamond painting: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diamond-painting-full-round-gingerbread-goblin-3040cm-59749501

Christmas diamond painting: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diamond-painting-crystal-rhinestone-flower-59278002

Birthday gnome diamond stickers: https://www.everydayedeals.com/products/diy-new-diamond-painting-stickers-birthday-goblin-two-small-sheets-786685-06

To make the card, I started with an 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ card base in a pale green color and scored it on the 8 1/2″ length at 4 1/4″ to make an A2 sized card. I laid tear tape link: https://tinyurl.com/hupzjdh3 on the bottom of the front of my card to cover 1″ of the card base, and laid three different colors of green ribbon on the tear tape to make grass.

Using the completed gnome birthday diamond stickers listed above, I positioned the birthday gift over the “grass” and then took the gnome with the balloons and stood it on top of the grass and laid the gnome holding a present on the left side on the first line of “grass.” I laid the cake sticker between the two gnome on the top level of “grass,” and took some stars and hearts and applied them around the top of the images. I had a stamp that said “Stay young at heart” in my stash and stamped that in black Gina K ink.

Inside the card, I attached the Happy Birthday from the set, a balloon and another gnome.

Nougat Candy Recipe:

2 bags mini marshmallows

2 bags white chocolate chips

4 TBSP butter

3-4 Boxes of Dots candy

Start by lining a 13 x 9″ pan lined with parchment paper sprayed with Pam (cooking oil spray), making sure your parchment paper lines the sides of the pan. Take your biggest glass mixing bowl that will fit in your microwave and put 4 TBSP of butter in the bottom of the bowl. I rub the butter around the sides a little to make sure the candy comes out when it’s done. Then put two bags of mini marshmallows in the bowl and microwave them a minute at a time on high in your microwave, stirring at the end of each minute. It will take 3-4 minutes for them to melt, and once they do, take the bowl out quickly with pot holders so you don’t burn yourself, and put the two bags of white chocolate chips in and stir them until they’ve melted into the marshmallows. You might want to put one bag of the chips in the bowl at a time if your bowl isn’t huge. Then quickly put the boxes of Dots in the bowl and mix them in. By this time it’s going to be difficult to stir, but stir the candy in as quickly as possible and then dump the mixture onto the parchment paper lined pan and pat it in place. The way I saw it done, was to take another piece of parchment paper that’s also sprayed with PAM and use that to push the candy around. I put my candy out in the garage to get cold and then Rich cut it into bite size pieces.

I bought this lovely flower plant at Trader Joe’s and wanted to give it to a girlfriend as a gift, but didn’t like the pot it came in and decided we could give it a makeover with leftover strips from the Christmas tree I made. Here’s that video if you’d like to see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNGjNoy_IzQ

Cut fabric strips in 1/2″ to 3/4″ wide strips. It doesn’t matter if they are all the same width, but you will need to cut off any fraying on the right side of each strip as we’ll be covering the left side with the next strip, so it can have a frayed edge….The strips need to be at least 1″ longer than the height of the side of the pot you are covering, and longer if you want to cover more of the bottom of the pot.

I used my Gorilla Glue mini hot glue gun that has dual temperatures link: https://tinyurl.com/38wurwwh

The Tonic scissors I bought on ebay, and here’s a link to the ones I just found there. I don’t know if you can find them in craft stores any more. https://tinyurl.com/2syvmhdc

The fabrics I bought at a Christmas rummage sale and I used four different patterns, making sure to use them in the same order each time I applied them.

I took the first piece and attached it at the bottom of the pot with hot glue and then laid a strip of hot glue up the side of the pot and using a silicone tool from Dollar Tree in their makeup department link: https://www.dollartree.com/sassy-chic-silicone-facial-mask-applicators-5625-in/275180 to press the fabric into the hot glue. When I got to the top of the pot, I put some hot glue on the very top of the pot and some on the back of the end of my fabric strip and wrapped the fabric strip over the top and attached it to the inside of the pot. The next strip, is applied on the first strip overlapping it on the first strip’s left side so the left side of the attached strip will be hidden. Apply the strips exactly the same way you did the first until you get the pot almost completely covered, and then you want to make sure you complete your pattern, so if you have four fabrics, the last strips need to make sure all four fabrics are there so the pot looks the same the whole way around. The best way to do this is to choose thinner or thicker strips (thicker if you need to cover more space and thinner if you are covering a smaller amount of space) and you can also overlap the strips more or less to make up the space difference if you need to as well. Your final strip must have any fray trimmed off both sides as both sides will be visible on only this strip once glued down.

I took gold diamond wrap from Dollar Tree link: https://tinyurl.com/488cks8p and hot glued it over the gold fabric then trimmed any excess fabric off both sides, then hot glued the diamond wrap to the top and bottom of the pot to make it look a little bit more blingy…Hope you thought it turned out festive.

My girlfriend went to a thrift store and when she bought her purchase, they put it into a bag made from a t-shirt and she thought it was such a great idea, she loaned me the bag so I could replicate it with all of you.

I used one of my husband’s old “life is good” t shirts for this and a pair of good scissors. You’ll start by cutting off both sleeves at the seam (but don’t cut out the seam) where it connects to the body of the shirt. I used Tonic scissors that I really like that are inexpensive on ebay…I don’t think you can find them in stores elsewhere, here’s a link to the ones I found. https://tinyurl.com/3vr5avah

I went to the neck and cut out the entire neck seam then made sure the front and back were even at the shoulders, then drew a line with a pencil where the back was higher than the front then cut out the pencil marks. You can cut this lower if you prefer a bigger opening for your bag.

The bottom is the last step, and I put straight pins about 3″ from the bottom and made sure I pinned the front and back together so they would stay together when I cut. I cut out the left side seam at 3″ and got rid of that piece then made marks on the shirt 1 1/2″ apart at the very bottom and cut up to the pins 3″ from the bottom. Cut at the 1 1/2″ mark up to the pin at 3″ and then make a cut with a craft knife or rotary trimmer at the top of the cut in the center of the 1 1/2″ of fabric a small slit then take both pieces of fabric at the bottom (from the front) and push them through the hole you made and pull tight. Repeat across the bottom of the t-shirt until you get to the other end, and cut out the seam up to the 3″ mark then, depending on the size of t-shirt you use, I used a size large mens, your last piece of fabric might be less than 1 1/2″ or it might be a little bit more, and no one will notice the size difference of your last knot.

This is a great bag for bulky things, but I wouldn’t use it for a bunch of cans…it would be great for clothes or potato chips or any lightweight purchases…I didn’t try to use it yet for anything that is heavy, but if you want to try it and let me know if it holds heavy things, I’d love to know….I’m too chicken to try doing it myself.

Every year for Christmas, I like to drop off a box of gifts to a local nursing home so people who don’t have family nearby, have a small gift during the holiday season. Here are some of the things I made this year.

I bought a light up snowflake during the post-holiday season sales last year that is white, and thought it was too bland, so used Tombow Mono Aqua Glue and rubbed it all over the surface of the snowflake, then used fine Martha Stewart red glitter and pressed it into the snowflake. I liked it a lot better once it was red. Make sure you shake it off over a garbage can several times before you deliver it, to ensure you aren’t giving a gift of loose glitter to the recipient.

We all have old picture frames around the house and those serve as the backdrop to most of my gifts. I find ornaments at garage sales or at Dollar Tree or Dollar General, and depending on the ornament’s size, hot glue it to the outside of the picture frame glass. When doing this, make sure you’ve cleaned the glass on both sides and that the hanger is facing the proper direction. For oval or round frames, it’s easiest if you trace the glass onto your Christmas paper and then cut the paper out. If your paper has a pattern with a direction, make sure that you’ve cut it so it is straight up and down in an oval frame. Most of the ornaments I bought didn’t fit inside the oval frame, but I’d bought a set of ornaments last year from Dollar Tree that were glittery red cardboard bells, so I hot glued one of those onto the paper inside the frame and put the frame back together and it looked great.

Some of the nicest frames I’ve decorated, used the simplest ornaments. I used a large gold 3 d metal ornament from Dollar Tree (they sell these every year) that I glued to the outside of the glass on a 5 x 5″ frame..it looked cute, even though the gold bead in the center of the ornament had glue left on it by the manufacturer.. Note, when shopping for these ornaments, really look at them to make sure you find the one that has the least amount of issues, as the might not bug you when you buy them, but those blemishes will drive you crazy when you put the frame together.

Most of the papers I used are from Die Cuts with a View, Jolly Whimsy Stack from, I think, Hobby Lobby from a few years ago. Probably the only place you could find it would be on ebay.

I used an 8 x 11″ diploma frame from the Dollar Tree link: https://tinyurl.com/88cdpyss for the round Christmas wood ornament I bought last year at Dollar General. I added a piece of Christmas cardstock into the frame and then hot glued the ornament to the front of the frame, making sure to let the hot glue cool for a few seconds so it didn’t melt the plastic “glass” on the front of the frame. I decided the ornament needed more bling, so added small dots of Bearly Art Glue to the ornament and glued small white iridescent pearls leftover from a diamond painting to the ornament.

I had some snowflake doilies in my stash so added them to a piece of 5 x 5″ Christmas paper and then added hot glue on top of the doily and added a second doily to make it look more dimensional, then put the frame that was 5 x 5″ back together and called it done.

I had another 8 x 11″ frame (diploma frame) and glued inside a piece of Christmas patterned paper, then put the frame back together. I had a deer with antlers ornament from Dollar Tree and hot glued it to the outside of the frame near the center. I looked at the deer and it looked a little spartan around his neck where they add pine cones, so I added hot glued to his neck and added some red styrofoam balls to fill in that area. He also had a weird dollop of glue near his antler that you can’t see on camera, but is really obvious in person, so I hot glued a small poinsettia there. I was afraid taking him in and out of cold weather that he might unglue (as hot glue can do that), so I added some E6000 under him to ensure he stayed in place.

I showed a diamond painting of a cat that is 30 x 40 mm…a hard size to find a frame for. I took the diamond painting to our local Salvation Army thrift store and found a frame that fit. I think the frame was 11 x 14″, or close to it, and I folded the edges of the diamond painting back on themselves and added tear tape to hold them in place, then put more tear tape on the back of the diamond painting and cut a piece of poster board that matched the diamond painting, in this case it was purple, to the frame size, then centered the diamond painting and glued it into the frame with the tear tape and some hot glue for extra stability. Then reassembled the frame. I think it turned out great.

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas easy gift ideas. They’re inexpensive and perfect for people whose taste you don’t know, but want them to have a gift from you.